Semi colon

From: “The proper Use of Semi- Colon, Colon, and Dash, from the illicit Manuals of Outlaws, Short Stories of Jazz, and Authors of Revolutionary Letters.”
“ The dash is great refuge of those who are too lazy to punctuate.”
-- Bernard Shaw

SEMI-COLON- A stylistic mark that is never necessary: it takes the place of a comma or period.
USES:
1.) To join two or more closely related sentences or complete statements. EX. The black Saturn slid into a snow bank; the driver got out reciting: ‘The moon, a silver slither of an eighth note.”
I went to work; I had a quick lunch: I came straight home.
Note: Both of these sentences could be written with a comma.
The black Saturn slid into a snow bank, and the driver got out reciting: “ The moon, a silver slither or an eighth note.”
2.) To connect interrelated ideas or thoughts. Ex. In France, we bought tea; in Amsterdam, coffee; in America, coke-cola; in Ireland, apples juice.

We brought tea in France, coffee in Amsterdam, coke-cola in America, and apple juice in Ireland.
3.) A semi-colon may replace a comma to separate items of a list when additional commas may confuse the reader. EX The winning numbers were 1,273; 3,663; 8,462; and 2,370; Dean had all of them.

Mr. Green, the plumber (who did it with the wrench); George Jefferson, the laundry-mat owner; and Scooby Doo, the rabid mutt, were all at the school cookout.